Holiday air travel frustrating, stressful

December 17, 2007

Airline traffic can be as frustrating and stressful for airline employees as it is for passengers - especially when winter weather is involved. Here's the view from a former airline pilot of one trip years ago - on the busiest travel day of the year, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving Day. On this particular Thanksgiving eve, we were in a perpetual blizzard all day long in each of our stops. In each city, when we would be ready to depart, there would be long delays because of the necessity to be washed-off prior to takeoff. We would leave the gate, taxi to a designated spot and line up behind perhaps as many as 20 or 25 airliners waiting to be washed off - de-iced - before takeoff. It is illegal for an airliner to take off with anything adhering to the wings of the airplane. On this particular evening we were in Detroit with a raging blizzard going on, but airliners were arriving and departing, even with minimum visibility and ceilings. We were late as usual, and every seat was filled to capacity with eager Thanksgiving travelers. I believe our destination was Windsor Locks/New Haven in Connecticut. On this evening we got washed off at the gate and then proceeded to the runway, hoping all the time that the ugly heavy snow would not adhere to the wings before it was time for takeoff. As we taxied out it was very apparent that there was going to be a very long lineup of airplanes waiting on the runway for takeoff. We must have been at least number 30 or 35 for takeoff. Each airliner captain has his own method of determining to go or not go for takeoff when it is snowing or ice is forming on the wings. This particular captain was not much different from all of the rest. As we became No. 1 or 2 for takeoff, I would send the second officer back into the cabin to observe from a good spot whether there was any snow or ice adhering to the plane's wings. So, we did just that. The second officer came back to the cockpit reporting that there was indeed snow sticking to the wings. Now, of course, we had to go back and be washed off again - but it was still a rather stressful decision to make since there was airplane after airplane taking off. Whether they had anything sticking to their wings, we will never know. But to ask to return to the gate is an unusual, even unnatural, thing during high traffic. With 30 or 40 airplanes all headed in one direction it is nearly impossible to navigate your way back to the gate. In addition, gate personnel didn't want us back at the gate because they were so busy with other flights that there was no room for us. Finding a gate to park at becomes a quest, to say the least. When we did ask the tower for a route back to the gate, we received comments from other airliners saying they didn't see anything sticking to our wings. But with our second officer's close observation we were not taking any chances. With extreme chagrine in his voice the tower operator allowed us to taxi down the runway to a clear taxi-way and back into the gate. The trip must have taken at least a half hour. Needless to say, we were not welcomed back to the gate and had another half hour wait until a gate opened for parking. By then we had to refuel again, as well as de-ice. We were not the most popular flight crew that ugly Thanksgiving eve in Detroit. By the time we got refueled and de-iced the traffic had subsided, the snow had let up and we were on our way to arrive only three hours late - and safely, I might add. 'Nuff said. Gerald “Jerry” Krueger is a retired educator, coach, commercial pilot and farmer. He can be reached by writing the American News at P.O. Box 4430, Aberdeen, S.D., 57402, or by e-mail at americannews@aberdeennews.com. His column publishes most Mondays.